Can the alignment being off cause the car to shake at speeds of 40 up? I've taken my 98 CLK320 in three times now and I never get a straight answer. I've had my front wheel bearings changed, wheels balanced, and even bought new wheels. What is the problem here? Anyone had similiar problems?

 

it could be...
-alignment
-un-balance wheels/tires
-busted/bent rim

and is the "car" shaking, or just the steering column?

 

If I had a bent rim they would have told me when I had the wheels balanced recently, or they would of had a hard time balancing a bent wheel(s), also it shook just as bad before I had the wheels balanced. Im getting a little shake from the steering wheel, but alot of the shake is underneath the seat, like in the floor. Could it be the alignment?

 

It's some other issue--wheels, tires (most likely), bearings (least likely). What kind of wheels and tires? Do you have your OE stuff? Start mounting/dismounting one corner at a time, if there is nothing obvious.

 

What left is bushing. If your suspension bushing is bad, the car will shake.

 

I had the same problem, mine was caused by un-even tire wear, which was caused by bad allignment.

 

Does the "shake" increase as you go faster? Specifically, when you slow down, can you feel a "thud thud thud?" If so, then it is most likely, as most pointed out, the tires. Flat spot or uneven wear makes the car vibrate.

 

Not really when slowing down, just when at speeds from 40 on up, real bad on the highway. Noticed it isnt as bad when temperature isnt as cold lately.

 

Sounds like tires to me. You replaced the rims, but did you replace the tires as well?

 

I did replace the tires on my new wheels but I have rubbing in the front. I bought 18x8.5 wheels and 235/40/18 tires but like I said the front rubbed so I didnt even get to drive on them yet. I put a spacers up front but they werent the right ones for the car cause I they were the ones I used from my jeep. When I went 50 or so with the spacers on I felt a shake strictly in the front. They obviously weren't centered on the hub I dont think. Is there a spacer I can get specifically for my car?

 

Maybe you need hubcentric rings on the rims. This was the case on my Maxima when I ordered rims from tires.com. They sent them with the rims and fixed the vibration problem. It might be worth calling the place you got the rims from and asking if the rims you have require hubcentric rings.

 

What are hubcentric rings? Is it like a spacer? I need to a little more clearance up front to use the new wheels and tires I just bought. I'd like to get the rear wheels more flush with the fenders also, I should of went with a 18x9 or 9.5 in the rear but I didnt. What size rims and tires do you have? Man what should I do?

 

good luck..I have the same problem...checking on hubcentrics. Luckily mine only goes at about 50-60 mph. So I try to drive outside that range!

 

We'll get there. There are some smart people on this board, so they'll chime in.

So, by process of elimination, you've had the wheel bearings changed, wheels balanced, bought new wheels and tires and the problem still exists.

To help narrow down problems with the car vs your rims/spacers, does this problem happen when you put your stock rims back on? If not, then we can pretty much pinpoint the spacers or hubcentric rings. Where did you buy your wheels from/or where can you buy them from? The shop should know if those wheels combined with your car needs the rings. I'm not too sure how they work, but they are like spacers, but fit perfectly between your rims/hub to make a tight connection so no vibration occurs.

So the spacers/lack of hubcentric rings seem suspect.

 

Theres another problem, I dont have stock wheels to try on the car, car didnt come with them. The wheels Im using now have uneven tread wear, and the new wheels I have rub on the front cause I have 235/40/18 tires on them. I bought them on ebay, they are chrome 18x8.5 Lorinser LM1 replicas. I read on this forum that several people had 235/40/18 tires with no rubbing and even asked the people who have them if they ever had rubbing and nobody said they didnt. I go to put the wheels on and start backing out of my garage hear and feel rubbing, not sure where though. So thats when I tried using the spacers I have in the garage and I had trouble even putting them on cause they didnt sit on the hub and as we all know its hard mounting wheels on our cars cause you have to put the lugs in instead of every other car out there where you can just put the wheels right on the bolts and the put the nuts on them. Anyways I'm sure the spacers were the cause of the vibration cause they werent centered on the hub.